Apparatus for cooling and refrigeration.



0. KUPHAL, DECD. H. KUPHAL, EXBGUTRIX. APPARATUS FOR COOLING AND REFRIGERATION. APPLICATION FILED 0012.10, 1906. RBNBWBD u Patented Aug. 20, 1912.

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OTTO KUPHAL, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.; HELEN KUPHAL, EXECUTRIX 0F SAID OTTO lKU'PBAL, DECEASED, ASSIGNOR 0F ONE-HALF TO AUGUST STAMM,

YORK, N. Y.

Specification of .Letters Patent.

0F NEW I APPARATUS FOR CO0LIl\T(ry AND REFRIGERATION.

Patented Aug. 20, 1912.

Application Ied October 10, 1906, Serial No. 338,221. Renewed January 15, 1912. Serial No. 671,324.

To,A all whom 'it may concern.'

Be it known that I., OTTO KUPHAL, a citizen of the United States, residing in New York, in the borough of Manhattan, count-y and -State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Coolingand Refrigeration, of which the following is a specification.

Thisinvention relates to an improved apparatus for cooling and Ventilating'l buildings of various kinds, and for various .refrigerating purposes.

The invention is based upon the expansOJi of air; under pressure in conjunction with the expansion of. wat-er to water-vapor, and the primary object of the invention is tofovercome the objections to which refrigeration on this principle has heretofore been open,,these objections being that the watervapor was not formed in such a way as to obtain the best results and could not be carriedaway rapidly enough fromthepoint of its formation,- owing to the enormous expansion of the water due to evaporation.

' -.Bythe present invention improved means are provided for expanding air under pres- Asure and expanding water lnto water-vapor and for removing it instantly from the pontof its formation so-as to maintain acontinuous evaporation and asteady low temperature.

The inventionl consists in the novel feat-ures of construction and combinations of parts to be hereinafterdescribed and finally' pointed out-in the claims.

l'nthe accompanying drawings, in which the same parts are denoted by the same referencecharacters in-the two figures, Flgure 1 is a vertical central section of a cooling and, refrigeratingapparatus constructed in accordanceu withl the invention, and Fig. 2

` is a horizontal section on line 2, 2, Fig. l.

-In' the drawings adenotes a receiver for compressed air which is forced into said receiver through a pipe 79 having therein a -check-valveal.`v At the 'upper portion of the. receiver a there is formed'an upwardlyextending discharge-pipe or nozzle n through which compressedair may be discharged lfrom the receiver after properly manipulatinga valve al located in the nozzle n; vAny water which collects within the .receiver a is removed therefrom by means of a self-acting valve a* arranged in the bottom of said receiver.

The discharge-pipe or nozzle n of the airreceiver extends upwardly into a tube b,

Awhich is of inverted T-shape, the nozzle nextending into said tube at the centerof the same so that the laterally-extending part of the tube forms two laterally-extending portionslfwhich extend rfrom the nozzle n at either sideofthesame. The tube Z) is supported above A tl `1e' receiver a by any suitable means, such as show'n. Said nozzle extends well vup into the uprightportion of the T- sliaped tube b, as shown. In each Iof the laterally-extending tubes b1 there is located a spring-actuated valve b2 which may `be pushed inwardly by atmospheric pressure when the pressure in the tube b is reduced below that of the atmosphere sutliciently to counteract the outward thrust of its spring, so that atmospheric air is thereby sucked into the tube b, said valves b2 serving to prevent the out-flow of air from the tubes b1 before thev partial ,vacuum is. properly formed in the tube o lwhen the apparatus is starting. Valves baarearranged in theJ lower portions ofthe air-tubes Zit AadjacentE The upwardly-extending portion of the air-tube l) is connected with an evaporatorcasing d elliptical in vertical section and of substantially greater diameteithan the upright portionof the tube b. v The lower and upper ends of the evaporator-casing Z are reduced, Ias shown, and are connected by means of rivets or in any other suitable manner with the upright portion of the tube b and an outlet-pipe j. Within the evapo rator-casing l is arranged a ring-shaped spray-pipe e which is formed. by an annular pipe supported horizontally on the inner periphery of the casing d about midway of the height of the latten The spray-pipe c is provided upon itsA inner surface with a number of minute perforations, as shown. The diameter of the ring formed by the spray-pipe is substantially greater than that of the upwardly-disposed portion of the tube inasmuch as said pipe is directly connected and supported on the upright wall of the evaporator-casing d. The spray-pipe c is supplied with v water by means of a pipe; e1 passing outwardly through the wall of tube.

suction-fan f1 by which the cooled air is` the evaporator-casing.` TA valve e2 in the pipe el controls the admission of water to the spray-pipe. I

The outlet-tube fhas arranged therein a drawn out of the evaporator-casing and forced upwardlythrough the outlet-tube, as indicated by the arrow, and thence io the place -of use. ySaid fan is rotated by any suitable means, such as a motor m, arranged exteriorly'of the outlet-tube and supported in the manner indicated.

The-operation of the improved apparatus is as follows: Thereceiver a is filled with compressed air arriving from any suitable source throughthe supply-pipe p. This air is by preference compressed to a pressure of about four atmospheres. When cooled air is to be supplied forventilating or refrigerating purposes, the water-inlet valve e2 is opened in orderto' admit-water of usual temperature to the spray-pipe e, andy the valve nl in the discharge-nozzlel of the re- 'ceiverl is opened. The production of an airblast in the upwardly-directed portion of the T-shaped air-tube b tends to cause a partial vacuum to be' formed in the lower portions of such tube and as a consequence the valves b2 are automatically opened and permit the inrushing' of atmospheric air.

This air'in striking againstthe cooled dis-l charge-nozzle n has thel moisture removed therefrom by condensation,- the moisture oo ll; lecting upon said discharge-nozzle and trickling down to the outlet-valves b3 at either side of the same, by which it is removed.l

Thus therey is created at the upper portion:

of the air-tube b an upwardblast of compressed air-and of atmospheric air. The tube b, by reason of the fact that it permits the mixing of atmospheric air with the compressed air which is being discharged,

may be properly referred to as a mixing- The upward blast of the mixture of atmospheric air and compressed air passes at a great speed in upward direction through -the evaporator-casing d.

As has been pointed out, the casing Iris substantially larger in horizontal section than the mixing-tube'and accordingly the upwardly directed blast of air will pass through the center of said casing without being d1fl'used into its outer part. Moreover, as said blast is created by high pressure and moves upwardly through the evaporatorcasing at great speed, the air which has col'- lected in the outer portion of said casing is sucked upwardly by the air-blast so that a partial vacuum will be formed inv the outer portion of t-he casing. The fan f1 in the outlet-tube also assists in creating a blast moving at such speed that a vacuum will be formed in the outer portion of the casing,

the latter being entirely'closed to the entrance of air except at the points where the mixing-tube and the outlet-tube communicate therewith. As the mixing-tube only directs the air through the central part of the casing, as before stated,'and asthe outlet-tube serves only to remove the air, it can be seen how this vacuum is created. It is within' this vacuum that'the spray-pipe e is located,4 and'consequently the water Vwhich is supplied to ysaid pipe after being discharged therefromv inthe form of a linespray, vdirected toward the incomin airblast from allsides' of the same, is immediately and thoroughly evaporated'by means' of the vacuum created at that -portion of the evaporator-casing. Conforming with the well-known physical law, this evapora-.1 tion of the water to water-vapor is accom'- panied by a very greatfall of temperature, the ratio of expansion of the Water-being enormous. As a consequence the air, .after passing through the evaporator-casing, reaches thel outlet-tube f in a highly' cooled state and can then be supplied to the place of use. The lcarrying away of the watervapor from the point of its formation with suflicientl rapidity has heretoforebeen' an mum degree, can be supplied.v

Having thus described my invention, I` claim as new and desire to `secure by Letters" Patent -lief l. The combination, withmeans to direct a blast of expanding compressed air, of a mixing-tube into which said blast is discharged, an evaporator-casing .into which said mixing-tube debouches', a vspraying device 'so located with respect to the evapora-V I tor-casing and theincoming air-blast as to `be in the vacuum produced by such blast,

and means for sucking the resulting cooled air from the evaporator-casing.`

'2. The combination, with a compressed-v air receiver, of 'a discharge-nozzle therefor,.125

a mixing-tube inclosingv said discharge-nozzle and provided wlth suction-operated valves, an evaporator-casing into which said mixing-tube debouches, a spray-pipe in 'said casing, and means for sucking the a1r from said evaporator-casing.

3. The combination, 'with' a compressedair receiver, of an upwardly-extending discharge-.nozzle therefor, a mixing-tube inclosing said nozzle and having laterallyextending inlet-portions locatedl at either side of the latter, an evaporator-casing into which said mixing-tube discharges and which is ofgreater diameter than said tube,

' a Water'supply ring arranged in said .evaporator-casing at the peripheral portion thereof, and means for discharging the air from said evaporator-casing.

4. An apparatus for cooling and refrigerating, including in its construction a re* ceiver for compressed air, a discharge-nozzle for said receiver, a T-shaped mixingt-ube inclosing said nozzle, suction-operated valves in the laterally-extending portions of said mixingftube, an evaporator-casing With Which said mixing-tube communicates, and a spray-pipe mounted in said casing.

5. In cooling and refrigerating apparatus, the combination of an evaporator casing closed except at the central part of its bottom and top portions, means to direct a blast of compressed air upwardly through the central part only of said casing, and means to spray Water into the partof the casing Where a partial Vacuum is produced by the air-blast.

In testimony, that I claim the foregoing as my invention, I have signed my name in presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

o'rTo KUPHAL'.

litnesses PAUL GOEPEL, H. E. RooKwELL. 

